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'Double Down': Group returning to Raritan River for second round of tire cleanup effort

raritan-tires

Organized by Joseph David and Steven Van Deursen, about 100 volunteers removed 101 tires from the Raritan River on July 27. The group is planning a second cleanup event for Aug. 18.
(Courtesy of Joseph David)

RARITAN — Paddling down the Raritan River in July 2012 with his brother-in-law and two of his nephews, Joseph David said the young boys spotted fish, turtles, cranes and herons. They became especially excited when they saw a snake.

But by the end of the canoe trip, David and his brother-in-law, Steven Van Deursen, realized the boys were pointing out more tires than wildlife.

“You expect to see a little trash, unfortunately, but you don’t expect to see the amount that we saw,” said David, a Montclair resident. “That day, we pulled out one tire and we thought, well, it starts with this one tire … and then we’ll see where we can go from there.”

That experience has led David and Van Deursen to organize a series of tire-removal events this summer along a roughly 10-mile stretch of the river in Somerset County. In their first event on July 27, about 100 volunteers removed 101 tires and other trash.

After finding more tires than the volunteers could remove at the time, the men now want to finish what they started.
Calling the event “Double Down,” David and Van Deursen are planning a second river cleanup for next Sunday. With the help of various groups and individuals, the men are looking to collect at least 100 more tires.

“We wanted to complete the original project that we actually came up with and planned,” said Van Deursen, who lives in Old Bridge. “We’re trying to get everything out in order to make it as clean as possible.”

Joseph David, left, and Steven Van Deursen stand beside a tire removed from the Raritan River during a July 27 cleanup event.Courtesy of Joseph David

The cleanup events come amid other recent efforts to restore the Raritan River at a time when people are looking beyond its history of environmental contamination and focusing on the river’s economic and recreational opportunities.

Those restoration efforts have been driven in large part by the removal of three dams in the past three years.The Nevius Street Dam between Hillsborough and Raritan Borough — the last of the three dams — was demolished at the end of July.

The dam removals provide for greater fish migration along the river and improve the water quality in part by increasing oxygen levels and reducing water temperatures.

Cleanup efforts such as the one organized by David and Van Deursen help to erase the decades-long stigma of the Raritan River being known as an “industrial garbage can,” said Raritan Riverkeeper Bill Schultz.

“Any kind of an excuse to get people down to the river, as soon as they see what they have, they become an advocate for the waterway,” Schultz said. “Nobody wants to go and sit down by the waterway and look at a pile of old tires. … That’s not a pleasing activity.”

The dumping of tires in the river has been occurring for years, and catching somebody in the act remains challenging, Schultz said. As certain trash products break down in the river, they may release chemicals that are harmful to the wildlife or the water, Schultz said.

The cleanup effort organized by David and Van Deursen has focused on the roughly 10-mile stretch of the Raritan River from where it meets the Neshanic River, near the Branchburg and Hillsborough border, to where the Nevius Street Dam once stood, David said.

In a July 27 cleanup event, about 100 volunteers removed 101 tires and other trash from the Raritan River. Another cleanup event is scheduled for Aug. 18.Courtesy of Joseph David

The pair created a Facebook page to promote the cleanup effort and they ultimately received support from various individuals and from Duke Farms, Bridgewater, Raritan Borough, and the Somerset County Park Commission, he said.

The men initially set a goal of collecting 100 tires during the July 27 event, but later realized they had “underestimated big time,” David said.

“We found so much that we ran out of daylight,” David said.

But David and Van Deursen are not looking to stop with the Aug. 18 event — they want to turn the river cleanup effort into an annual tradition.

“The first part of it is to get the river clean, but the second thing is to keep it clean,” Van Deursen said. “The cleaner we make it … the more beautiful it becomes.”